Workshop on Disability Management - Kumaraguru College of Liberal Arts & Science (KCLAS)

The Department of Social Work, Kumaraguru College of Liberal Arts and Science organized a Workshop on “DISABILITY MANAGEMENT”, for the first year Master of Social Work Students on 14th October 2019. There were four Resource persons who took sessions on various disabilities under the Rights for Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act 2016, for this workshop.

Dr. R. Srinivasan, Managing Trustee, Association for the Rights of the Visually Challenged (ARVIC), Coimbatore – took a session on Visual Impairment. Mrs. Suganthi, Accounts Officer, BSNL, Coimbatore – took a session on Locomotor Disability. Mr. Sankararaman, Managing Trustee, UDIS Forum, Coimbatore – took a session on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Mr. Rathinam, Project Co-coordinator, Y4Job, Coimbatore – took a session on Hearing Impairment. Dr. Kalpana Prakash, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, was the faculty coordinator for this workshop. Students from the departments of Psychology, Commerce and Management also participated in this workshop along with Social work students.

Session I – It started with a short introduction about Dr. Srinivasan by Ms. Dhanalakshmi. K, student of I MSW. Dr. Srinivasan briefed the students about the differences between Visual Impairment, Blind and Visually Challenged. The resource person was a visually impaired person himself but with lot of passion, hope and confidence he shared some of his knowledge and experience with the students. He told us about the history of people facing visual impairment problems in various timelines of 1950’s, 1980’s, late 1990’s, 2000’s and current facilities and technological enhancements. He shared a story of Louis Braille. He also shared how people with visual impairment are treated by the society and ways it can be avoided. He gave examples of success stories of people with visual impairment in various field like civil IAS, IFS, Banking Sector.

Session II – Started with a short introduction about Mrs. Suganthi by Ms. Raghavi. V, 1st MSW. Mrs. Suganthi briefed the students about Locomotor Disability, She herself is undergoing this disability but she has fought it with a confident approach towards the best practices in her life. She shared causes, categories, special provisions, concessions and schemes, various institutions, statistics, jobs, reservations for people with locomotor disability. She also shared insights on some articles from UNCRPD, National and District Rehabilitation centers. She gave a few examples of how people with locomotor disability spend their time and develop their skills – for example, Wheelchair Basketball team in Ganga Rehabilitation Center. She concluded with a life story of Stephen Hawking.

Session III – Started with a short introduction about Mr. Sankararaman by Ms. Aishwarya, 1st MSW. Mr. Sankararaman started with a visual representation of 21 different kinds of disability and a short brief about it. He then explained about Intellectual and developmental disabilities. He shared the exclusiveness of these people in the society and how the youth and students can contribute to the welfare of these people. He gave information on various assessments like Binet Kamat Test of Intelligence, Vineland Social Maturity Scale to identify various parameters which helps to identify the level indicating percentage of disability. He shared how Prevention, Education, Training, Rehabilitation and Social Security can be done for PWIDD’s.

Session IV – Started with a short introduction about Mr. Muthu Rathinam by Ms. Karthika, 1st MSW, Mr. Rathinam gave an intro about the anatomy of human ear and also shared a video on the functions of the ear. He then briefed about Hearing Impairment and Hearing Loss – its causes, degrees of measurement, common symptoms, and prevention methods. He gave insights on how to maintain good ear hygiene, how Medical advancements, Technology and Education can contribute to the early detection, intervention and prevention of people with hearing impairment. He concluded the session with an activity by teaching sign language from the Indian, American and British perspective to the students. It was a fun filled informative session.

A small memento was presented to each of the resource person by the students and faculty of Social Work and Psychology. Ms. Megha Varshini. E, 1st MSW, gave the vote of thanks to the crowd. A moment to cherish group picture was taken at the end of the programme.